Tag Archives: Luke

Sunrise – each day is a new beginning

Posted on March 18, 2015 by | Comments Off on Sunrise – each day is a new beginning

sunriseSunrises are something that many of us simply take for granted as we go about our daily tasks. This morning, as a part of my morning routine, I happened to look out the front door about the time the sun was rising above the rooftops in my neighborhood. Within that moment, I was taken in by the deep hues of color, the splashes of golden sunlight, and the contrast of the dark and empty tree trunks stretching to catch the sun’s light and warmth. I pulled out my phone and took the picture to the left to capture the beauty and majesty of the moment.  It began to remind me of God’s mercy and grace and how the Bible tells us, This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness (Lamentations 3:21-23).

Sunrise – Each new day is a gift

One of the repeated teachings of both the Old and New Testaments is that there is no promise for tomorrow. Even Jesus used a parable to teach this very thing: And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (Luke 12:15-20). This man thought he had tomorrow and even made great plans for his future. This man didn’t know that he only had today and that today was his last day. Even the apostle James wrote on this very concept: Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (James 4:13-14).

It is not that these verses are discouraging us from planning for our future; the apostle Paul wrote, But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (1 Timothy 5:8) and the Old Testament teaches A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just (Proverbs 13:22). However, what the Lord is discouraging us from doing is investing so much of our time planning for tomorrow that we forget about what we have today. We all know people who were in pursuit of their future that they really missed out on the blessings that God had given them; this is not just something that the lost deals with, but something that affects Christians as well. In fact, this very topic is exposed even in both Christian and secular music; Casting Crowns, a popular contemporary Christian group sings about this in their song, American Dream. A secular and very popular song in the mid 1970s, Cat’s in the Cradle by Harry Chapin, focuses how our children will adopt our attitudes towards family, work, and their future. Both songs focus on the reality that there have been scores of people who have lost the most precious gift – today – trying to live for tomorrow.

Each sunrise is a new beginning

I know I already shared this verse above, but I believe it is worth repeating:  This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness (Lamentations 3:21-23). It doesn’t matter how bad yesterday was; today is a new day. Yesterday can’t be helped or changed. Each morning we are given a new opportunity and God gives us new mercies and blessings. If you’re lost, never trusted the Lord as your personal savior, He has given you this day to come to Him and to accept the gift of eternal life He offers. If you’re one of His, today is another opportunity to serve Him in love. It is also another opportunity to focus on the things that matters, such as our family and friends. No matter what happened yesterday, today does not have to follow in the footsteps of yesterday’s sins, heartaches, disappointments, and hurts. Even the scriptures about the return, Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh (Matthew 24:40-44) teach that His coming could happen at any moment. This is another clear sign that we are to live each day – each moment – as it could be our last.

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The spiritual danger of inattention

Posted on March 6, 2015 by | Comments Off on The spiritual danger of inattention

Interstate 40March 4th and 5th of this year will be remembered for the massive winter storm that gripped most of the nation in snow, ice, and record cold temperatures. Yesterday morning, at 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time, I began my journey home from North Carolina. Normally, when I have made the trip in the past, it has taken me between ten and eleven hours to make it home. Yesterday’s trip was different. It took me fifteen and a half hours. The first third of the trip was fairly normal. There was no ice or snow – just rain. But as I began to cross the Smoky Mountains, gradually the rain was replaced with a wintry mix, then sleet and freezing rain. Halfway between Nashville and Knoxville everything changed over to snow. The last half of the trip, which normally takes five hours, would be close to ten hours long.

As the weather continued to deteriorate, I began to really become aware of the situation around me. When the rain began to turn to freezing rain and sleet, I decided to slow down, turn off the radio, and to pay attention to what was going on around me. With all the distractions out-of-the-way, I became more aware of how dangerous the situation actually was. Ice and slush covered the interstate, there was low visibility in some places, and already there were many of accidents on both sides of the road. I also became more aware of the actions of the other drivers; many of them were acting as if it were a normal day – they continued to drive at higher than safe speeds, talking on cell phones, and zipping down the highway. They were unaware of the real danger of inattention as they continued on their journey.

There were a few times I watched cars pass by me at high rates of speed, just to be passed by me a little while later. Where I had been slower, more deliberate in my driving, they had become victims of the danger to inattention – a couple had slid off the road into the median and there were a couple that had come upon an accident too fast to avoid becoming part of it. As I watched and continued to make my way slowly across the state of Tennessee, a verse came to mind: And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares (Luke 21:34). As I continued my slow pace through the ice and snow, I began to think that just as these drivers had not even considered the danger of inattention that morning during their trip, there are many people who are unaware of the spiritual danger of inattention.

Spiritual danger of inattention

There are a number of phrases used throughout the Bible that are designed and crafted by the Holy Spirit that reminds us of the importance of paying attention and being aware of what is happening us around us. Take heed, consider, regard, watch, and be vigilant are found throughout the Bible and remind us that we are to be aware of what is going on around us and what we are doing. There are a lot of Christians today who are now experiencing problems, trials, and even temptations because of the spiritual danger of inattention. There are churches who are experiencing hardships because of the danger of inattention. If we just take the one phrase, take heed, there are sixty-four verses where the Holy Spirit instructs us to do just that – to take heed, to be aware, to be cautious, to be observant of what is going on around us. On my trip to and from North Carolina, I listened to a lot of AM Christian radio stations because the CD player in my car no longer works. I was listening to the sermon of a local church broadcasting out of Nashville and heard the pastor say that there were a number of young teenage girls in their congregation had went on a trip and now found themselves pregnant. He was bemoaning that how could this happen at the church – and the answer that the Holy Spirit gives is the danger of inattention.

Using the church broadcasting on the radio as an example, its problems did not begin with a field trip taken by a local group. The problems did not begin when the teenage girls engaged in premarital and unwed sex – this was the result of the problem. The problem is that this church and these families had not been aware of what was going on around the young girls. There is a very real spiritual danger of inattention. I once heard a sermon while living in Louisiana where the pastor said a simple but profound statement: “there are people who are so heavenly minded they do no earthly good!” It is not enough to preach against immorality and sin, it is not enough to ignore the taunting and teasing of the world and somehow expect our young people to go through life unscathed by sin. There is no reward for being inattentive to the things the world offers. Simply believing “not my daughter” or “not my son” is not enough to prevent them from falling into temptation – and it is not just about how they face sex, but alcohol, drugs, and any number of conversations we often choose to ignore because of the sensitivity of the topic. There are real spiritual dangers out there; we compound them when we are not paying attention to what is going on around us, our families, and the members of the congregation.

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Learning from the life of the apostle Paul

Posted on January 26, 2015 by | Comments Off on Learning from the life of the apostle Paul

apostle paulThe life of the apostle Paul serves as a model for Christians who want to develop a deeper and more sincere walk with the Lord. Paul’s writings are rich with insight that encourages, corrects, and teaches the basics of our Christian faith. The imagery used by the apostle Paul allows him to explain even the most difficult concepts in a manner where those who seriously desire a more fulfilling relationship with the Lord. Continuing from the most recent post, “The Greatest Race of Our Life“, we shared how that great follower of Christ had to come to the same point we all do – he had to recognize he was a sinner, he had to repent of his sins, and had to accept Jesus as his personal savior before he could be called into the ministry by the Lord.

Teaching Timothy what he knew

As Paul knew he was facing death, he wrote to Timothy, a younger-in-the-faith young man who had surrendered his life to serving the Lord. He had been called as a preacher, and Paul had taken Timothy under his tutorship to train him for the role in ministry that the Lord had set before him. In his second letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul wrote: I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing (2 Timothy 4:1-8). Even during the lifetime of the apostle Paul, false teachings were already beginning to creep into Christianity.

In his letter to the Christians living in Jerusalem, the apostle Paul wrote, For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Paul chose his words to use a common item as a type of imagery to explain the power of the Word of God.  Paul chose to use this imagery for a couple of reasons, the first being that basic swordsmanship is a difficult skill to master. To become a true master of the sword, one had to know the parts, where the center of balance was, and had to spend considerable time familiarizing themselves with their weapon. The Roman soldiers of Paul’s era were true expert swordsmen and because of their training, could easily take on two to three less-experienced swordsmen. The Roman soldier’s knowledge of swordsmanship allowed the Roman Empire to expand and control much of the known world.

Paul’s own discipleship

The apostle Paul chose to use the sword’s imagery because as a Christian and a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul could not be used by the Lord until he had mastered a basic understanding of the scriptures available and the teachings of Christ that were passed on by oral tradition during his days.  The book of Acts does provide the following account of the discipleship of Paul: But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.   And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus (Acts 9:15-19). Paul, out of obedience to the Lord, presented himself to Ananias, was baptized in obedience, and spend time in Damascus learning from the disciples – the same men that had walked alongside of the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. Paul was not immediately sent out on a great missionary journey, or called to complete some great spiritual quest. The Lord, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, led him to a place where he, too, could become a disciple of Christ.

Paul, after his salvation and dedication to follow God’s plan for his life, was like any young Christian that has just come to know the Lord. We notice that before Paul could proceed further in his Christian walk, he was baptized. Baptism does not save, and outside the four Gospels, there is no clearer picture of this than the book of Acts: And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him (Acts 8:36-38). Baptism, as seen in this example, is the first step of discipleship. There’s nothing magical about it, it does not save. It symbolizes openly the change that has happened in our heart. We are publically identifying – without shame or reservation – the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. A Christian who is not baptized will not be able to complete the mission God has called them to do, or will not progress in their Christian life any further than a “Babe in Christ” until this is done.

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